Darkest of Winters Adventure Synopsis #9

“Finally! Someone other then me gets covered in nasty crap!” –Jessy, relieved at avoiding being covered in dog puke.

“At least until you have to clean your nephew up anyway.” –Heather, reminding him of the unpleasantly obvious.

Adventure #9

Thinking quickly Renee ran in a zig zag crouch toward the parked plane, yelling at Jessy and the rest to get loaded, slinging the lever action rifle over her shoulder and hoping the Doberman would have the common sense to follow her. Jessy however reloaded his MP 5’s and decided to provide “a lil covering fire” by way of dual wielded lead hoses pointed in the general direction of the onrushing Van, which raised plenty of sparks and filled the windshield with bullet holes.

Meanwhile back in the4 refueling truck Riley and Heather heard the sporadic gunfire and at first mistook it for more of their groups attempt to pacify any remaining zombies, until Heather noticed a van in the side mirror hurtling across the pavement from behind them, and quickly urged Riley to “Stop this rolling Molotov before we catch a bullet and go up in flames.” Nodding Riley squealed to a stop and waited for Heather to exit before pulling around and driving at full speed toward the onrushing van, ducking beneath the dash board as bullets spider webbed the windshield.

Back at the plane Renee joined the group just in time to witness Riley making a leap from the side of the fuel truck to roll across the pavement as the truck rocketed forward a couple hundred feet into the side of the van, the resulting explosion sending flaming debris and bit of charred flesh raining down across the airport.

Riley painfully got to his feet and limped back toward the plane as Renee did her preflight check and Heather reloaded her lever action rifle and set about coaxing her dogs into the aircraft. Upon Riley’s arrival at the airplane his wife Jamie greets him with a worried glance and brief lecture at his stupidity in risking his life, and how she has no wish to raise their child by herself.

The unexpected revelation of her pregnancy proves shocked everyone (both in and out of game) into brief silence, with the group regarding the otherwise quiet and demure woman with new found sympathy and uncertainty. After a brief instruction on parachute usage and safety from Riley, (which was cut short when Tommy pointed out the plane had no parachutes) the group strapped in and taxied down the (mostly clear) runway, narrowly taking off before they ran into the moldering wreckage of the Gunz of Pure Humanity van.

Once Airborne Renee quickly climbed above the cloud line to fly in a northerly direction, the view below hidden by the sea of clouds, Heather remarked on the beauty of the sunlight reflected off the cloud and how serene the journey was compared to their earlier land travel. This serenity was short lived however as three of the five remaining dogs got air sick, and blew chunks all over the back seats of the plane, and Tommy, who was half asleep curled up among the dogs.

The formerly pleasant flight now tarnished by the acidic tang of dog vomit and the crying of Tommy at his favorite ball cap being ruined, the group, (after a lengthy discussion) decided on finding a safe place to land and air things out realizing as well that this small plane lacked any kind of toilet facilities or kitchen.

With darkness only a few hours away Renee dropped back below the cloud line and paralleled the interstate for almost an hour, hoping to find a clear enough area to land before giving up in disgust, the numerous wrecked and stalled vehicles making such a landing attempt a nearly certain death sentence. Riley consulted the groups travel atlas and directed Renee towards a larger airfield in the near by city of Denver Colorado, dusk shrouding the major airport in blackness as she lined up for a dangerous landing, commenting briefly that the lack of runway light would make her first ever unassisted landing a little more challenging.

In a sudden expression of brilliance Jessy suggested they fire a few signal flares from the planes survival kit at the runway to help illuminate things and make landing easier, which after some careful flying by Renee, resulted in a intermittently lit runway. Crossing their fingers the group collectively held their breaths as Renee came around for a final pass to make her landing. (As did everyone at the table when she rolled her piloting proficiency)

With a jarring impact the plane skipped across the tarmac several times, wobbling badly as Renee struggled for control, finally coming to rest at the far end of the runway a few dozen feet shy of a DC-10. Sighing in collective relief, the group debated their next course of action, attempting to decide whether to cross the fence and try to scavenge for supplies and shelter at a nearby hotel, or seek a safe haven within the airport itself. In the end Renee suggested they spend the night onboard one of the private Jets dotting the airfield and then proceed further in the morning, (resulting in a “why didn’t I think of that?” look on the majority of the other players faces)

With a degree of caution the group carefully unloaded and made their way across the airfield, taking a good thirty minutes to locate a private jet and gain access in the growing darkness, Heather swearing she saw candlelight briefly in several of the airport windows. Once onboard Jessy quickly located the bathroom and worked on removing the majority of the encrusted dog vomit from Tommy’s skin and clothing while Riley, Renee, Heather (and her dogs,) finished securing the airplane, finding it quite empty.

A short meal of their own canned goods and the snacks found onboard the plane wrapped up the evening while the group discussed whether or not to set guard for the night, deciding against it with how inaccessible the plane would be to zombies once they had the door shut. The session came to a close with the group settling in for the night, Heather and Renee taking the private cabin in the rear most area of the plane, leaving Riley and Jamie to occupy the remaining room and letting Jessy, Tommy, and the dogs have the remainder of the jets interior to themselves.

* * * * *

Was the groups’ night landing with flares noticed by others in the area? Did Heather really see candlelight in the airport windows? Will their airborne travel plans continue or be canceled on account of airsickness?

Find out in the next adventure synopsis #10, coming Sunday, February 20th!

Indeed, too much action and it can quickly become too repetitive and impede character development. Every few sessions there’s usually one less focused on conflict and more on interaction/suspense building and setting the scene for the next encounter, much like Synopsis #5 did.